Hysteria
by mearfster
Summary: Ruby has probably had some interesting dreams, what with everything going on in her head. However, when she finds herself dreaming, she sees firsthand the terrors that plague each member of RWBY in a dreamlike trance. As the nightmares reveal themselves, Ruby tries her best to hold them at bay. But there is a price to everything, and killing nightmares is no exception.
1. Chapter 1

Just something I thought of in a dream last night.

Disclaimer: While I may own the scenario and the plot, I do not own the characters themselves. That right belongs to Rooster Teeth/Mounty Oum.

Enjoy :)

* * *

There was nobody left in the room when I woke up. I checked their beds, too. The covers were tucked in and the pillows were fluffed up, even on Yang's bed. It didn't seem like anyone else lived here, but it was still our room. Yang's stupid boy band posters were still up, the beds were still stacked a little shakily on top of each other, and Blake's books were still stacked in little neat piles the way she always does. I asked her about it once, and she said something about a lack of bookcases? Anyways, when I checked the drawers, there was nothing there. No notes, no clothes. Same for the closets. All their stuff was gone, except for what was out already. I even checked the bathroom, and Yang's shampoo and stuff were gone. If she comes back, she'd be mad. But I don't see her anywhere.

This was definitely weird.

In fact, the only thing I found that wasn't on the floor or on the walls was Crescent Rose, which I found in one of my desk drawers. It was a really big drawer. Anyways, I found my precious Crescent Rose. I checked it all over for signs of damage, but I couldn't find anything. Not even the little chip in the handle that got taken out when a Beowulf tried to bite my hand that other day. The mechanisms were working fine, and when I extended it the blade was really really sharp. But I couldn't find any sign that I used it, ever. The paint job seemed like new.

Something was wrong. I took good care of Crescent Rose, but it wasn't perfect. Now it was. There was nothing more I could do to make it better, and that worried me because it wasn't NORMAL. Maybe I could ask Yang if she had anything to do with this.

Wait! That's what I was wondering! Where was she?

One thing's for sure. She isn't here. Nobody is. So might as well look for them outside, right? They aren't in here, so they gotta be out there. Easy. First step… open the door!

Wow. This is NOT Beacon. It was so white and clean that my eyes hurt. Seriously. Cold, hard white floors. The ceiling was really high, too. I couldn't even see the top of it. It kind of looked like it stretched out all the way into infinity. I don't know where the light came from, either, but it kept bouncing off all the pretty white things. Right into my eyes, too. Ugh. But it was all so pretty. Little white tables with little white vases every few feet. And on the other side of the room, windows AT LEAST 12 feet high opened up a view to the pure white landscape outside. No trees, though.

It was all very pretty, but it was SO COLD there.

I wanted to grab a blanket from the room, but the door was gone. I looked, and there wasn't anything there but another white wall. Still so cold. Might as well start walking to warm up, right? I wished Yang was here to keep me warm, but she wasn't. I walked down the hallways.

What. This is gonna take forever.

I turned a corner, and all I saw was hallway, hallway, and more hallway. This one seemed to stretch on FOREVER. And there were other hallways running across this one, and that one, and that one…

Well, nothing better to do than just keep walking. It was cold, still. Just keep walking. The silence was a little lonely at first. Nobody to talk to. After a while it get unnerving. Then, after what felt like days of walking around, terrifying. One foot in front of the other, I'd tell myself. Just keep walking, I'd tell myself. I hope they're all okay, I'd tell myself. Was the weather lovely? Why yes, dear Ruby, the weather was beautiful today. If there was any weather. And the cold just keep coming, chilling me to the bone. It was so quiet, so lonely, so cold…

* * *

I would've missed it if I hadn't looked up to see how much further it was.

That white cloak. I'd know that cloak from anywhere. After all, it haunts my dreams at night.

It was walking away from me. I was desperate for anyone, anything, to hold onto in this maze of loneliness. It stopped, turned around, and beckoned to me.

Her face. I've only seen it in the pictures that Yang had, but I remembered it. Summer Rose.

Maybe I should call her Mom.

But when I run towards her, she flees; around a corner, down a hallway, through the walls. I have to find her. I have to.

The only thing I have to follow are the screams. The wails of the dead, the lamentations of a banshee. The fury of one torn from love and life guide me.

After running after her for what felt like hours, she stops in front of a set of double doors.

The only thing left are the white petals that fall, softly, to the floor.

I don't want you to leave, again. Why? Why do you do this? Kneeling down, tears dripping from my face, I try to pick up the petals. But they dissolve into the cold, hard floor.

There's nothing left of her, save for the doors she lead me to. I hope there's at least somebody, something inside of these. It's lonely. It's worse when there used to BE somebody there. And now, it's unbearable.

It gets colder, so much colder, when I open the door. But someone's there, at least. That white hair, that white dress, looks so familiar.

"Weiss?"

The figure turns around.

"…Weiss?"

The same white hair, but it's not up in a ponytail. The dress isn't her trademark combat skirt and jacket combo, but rather just a solid white dress. I walk a little closer to see her better.

The eyes weren't hers. Not at all. They were blood-red. And she wasn't crying.

Or, I guess she was. Just…not with tears.

She was crying blood.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Now that you're here, I am perfectly alright," she replied.

"Have you seen Weiss? How about Blake, or Yang?"

"What of them?"

"But…but they're my friends! I have to look for them!"

"No. You will not. You will stay here. I expressly forbid you from leaving this room."

"Why? You can't stop me. I need to look for them."

"You don't need anything. The only thing you need to do is stay."

"No! I need to go find them! They need me, too. You can't keep me here like this!"

"I NEED you! You WILL stay with me! I forbid you from leaving!"

With that, crystalline wings sprouted from her back, and halo of ice wreathed her face.

"No! I gotta find Weiss! And Blake! And Yang!"

I crouched, settling into a defensive stance while I drew Crescent Rose. Frost started to form on the floors and walls, eventually solidifying into panes of ice. The blood from her eyes ran down the front of her dress, leaving crimson rivers down her front. I was expecting ice, or something.

I didn't expect her to start singing.

"Mirror, mirror, what's behind you  
Save me from the things I see!"

I made the mistake of looking up at her. I realized that exactly when something bowled into my side. Ice, hard and cold, like I thought. And it didn't come off, no matter what I tried to do. It started spreading over my side, creeping down to my knees.

"I can keep it from the world  
Why won't you let me hide from me?"

I saw it coming from the reflection on the wall, and tumbled out of the way. But when my shoulder hit the floor, the ice on my body stuck to the ice on the floor, freezing solid where I fell. It was creeping over me, encasing me. I struggled, but it wouldn't come off. Slowly, it spread, trapping my hands and feet.

"I'm the loneliest… Of all…"

It was climbing over my face. I couldn't breathe, couldn't speak. Couldn't think… couldn't see…

It was so cold. I closed my eyes, before the ice froze them solid. Better to die with my eyes closed than staring into nothing forever. The only thing left to do was to relax. Just rest. Just get some sleep now. So very tired…

"You insufferable dolt! Wake up! Please! We need you. I need you. Don't you dare die on me!"

My eyes shot open. The ice was gone. I heard water running down the walls, felt it pooling around me. Still a little shaky, I got up.

The girl, or whatever she was, was bawling. I walked over to her and put my hands on her shoulders.

"Why are you crying?" I asked, as the pool slowly started turning crimson.

"You…did this to me. But that matters not. Finish what you started."

"What did I do?"

"Everything. Everything. You came in here, starting thawing my home. My home, it's gone. Not even the little girl who used to visit comes anymore."

"Was it Weiss? The little girl?"

"You've taken her from me. I wanted her to come back so much. So much. I needed you. She comes for you. Not me."

"Where is she now?"

"With you. Not me." The bawling subsided to a couple hiccups and a muffled sniff every now and then.

"She's not coming back. My obligations have disappeared, melted away. There is nothing left for me. Just end it." She stopped crying, looking me square in the eye.

"Are… are you sure?"

"You took everything else. Take me too."

Crescent Rose was already extended. I looked down, to collect my thoughts. Wasn't I a huntress to help people? To help ease the pain we all felt? And here I was, the alpha and omega of this girl's pain. I didn't know what, or who, she was. But I can end her pain. It was better than nothing. I looked her in the eye. The eyes, which once were blood red, were now sapphire blue. Then they closed.

One stroke was all it took. Right across her.

There wasn't a thud or anything like that. Just a tinkling sound as she shattered into dust. And the entire castle, I could see it drifting away. It too had shattered, leaving behind nothing.

I walked away, the snow crunching under my boots. The sun was shining, having peeked out over the horizon. It felt nice. Warm.

I still had to find them. Weiss, Blake, Yang… I needed to find them. That's all that mattered.

* * *

Weiss Schnee woke with the sun. The beeping of the monitors made her infinitely happier. It had become a sound that she depended on. She thought about how sad that was, that a simple steady beeping reassured her, as she pressed the cold hand she was clasping.

Ruby Rose was still alive.

Weiss noted that her heartbeat was steady once again. For a while last night, it has slowed almost to a stop. Oh, how that sent her into an abyss of worry.

Her long stays in the hospital with the comatose Ruby had taught her patience. It had taught her how to hide her feelings from others, to pretend that everything was alright.

Her almost dying had changed that. She had wept openly as the heartbeat slowed, the spikes on the ECG becoming further and further apart. The happy, bubbly Ruby she still remembered seemed like a distant memory already, now replaced a machine that dictated her emotions. And it had almost stopped.

She broke down, pleading with Ruby. She needed her. The first one to breach the gap between her heart and her head. Her first true friend, and confidante. Her team leader. All of that and more.

But everything was alright now, she thought. It would only be a couple more months, at most, she hypothesized. Only a couple more months and she would have a friend again instead of a cold, dead hand.

And Weiss would make that happen. Being heiress of the Schnee Dust Company had its perks.

The mythical Dust, the physical manifestation of energy, had enough power to destroy or create. Whatever the wielder desired, Dust would do.

How fitting, Weiss thought, that she would use Dust to prevent her own teammate from crumbling into dust.

* * *

Author's Note: I don't actually know when the next chapter/installment will be coming out, with AP tests and finals right around the corner. Hopefully, it's soon. I promise I'll work on this when I can, but I can't exactly promise anything :(  
And again, reviews would be greatly appreciated! I can't make any of this stuff better if I don't know what's wrong with it!


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: I'm so sorry this is late. Initially, I had assumed that I would be able to post this by yesterday or this morning, but apparently I was wrong. So very wrong.

* * *

Beyond the boundaries of the snowy land she had left, there was nothing. Just a blackness that threatened to devour me whole. But I was a huntress. And huntresses were trained not only to kill the dark, but to subjugate it. To dominate it.

I wasn't afraid of what the dark hid. After all, my past was a thing of the night. My identity stemmed from it. Born of the dark, raised under the light. Because of it, I swore to become a night hunter. That's why I came to Beacon when offered. And for me, the darkness wasn't just the Grimm. It was the pain those around me felt. And I vowed to eradicate it.

It was a while before I stopped hearing the crunch of snow underneath my boots, which was quickly replaced by the slow, quiet rustle of grass. The darkness around me shimmered, and it shifted into a cloudless night. The moon was full, and beaming down on a silent world. The stars were strangely absent. A very light breeze keened through the forest that sprung up underneath the shroud that had been there only moments ago. The wind carried with it currents of silvery petals, glowing with the light of the moon. As the wind swept around me, the world settled into a small clearing within a grove of trees.

As I stepped forward to investigate, my foot bumped against something. I picked it up.

An old rifle. It was a relic of long ago, when bolt-actions were common on standard-issue military rifles. A bayonet was still attached to it, albeit rusty and deteriorated. From the remains of the dirt on the end, and the helmet still attached to the end, what this was for.

I walked into a military graveyard.

As I focused, several more rifles, standing silent and taciturn in the moonlight, came into vision. I walked to the nearest one, noting that the dog tags usually hung with it were gone. Nothing in the helmet either to identify the fallen. I walked to the next, and to the one after that. Nothing. These soldiers had fallen, and their memories would never rise again. Not even after death. No dog tags, no personal mementoes.

What was left for me to do here? I would never be able to save them. Quite literally, there is nothing that I can do. So I walk away. Cold hearted, some would say. I would argue the opposite. I've changed since I came to whatever place this is. I can't save everything. I can't save them all. So I have to make do with what I CAN save. The rest? I'd rather not think about that.

Nothing left for me here. I turn to leave. The only other path is through the woods, but I don't hesitate. Like I said before, I'm not scared of the dark. Not anymore.

After walking through the trees for a while, the wind starts to whisper.

"_Everyone's fine. You know that they're capable. Go back. Go back._"

Back to where? There is no place that I remember that I can go back to. Then, like a cancer, the words the wind whispers grow insidiously.

_"You don't need them anymore. You're a strong, smart girl. Independent, too. You can be great without them. Without the need to constantly run to their side, to offer them aid."_

_"In fact, THEY don't need YOU anymore. You know that. You know they're strong. They can take care of themselves. Who would want a little girl, anyways, clogging up the works? You're just dead weight to them. So leave. You don't need them, they don't need you."_

It's true. I always felt it. Always felt the reluctance Yang showed, especially on my first day, to care for me. And Weiss… I know that she would rather not deal with me. Blake, I don't know. Nobody knows anything about her. And it's probably better that way. She lives in the night, never revealing anything to us. Does she need me? I don't know, but I don't think so.

I stop at a pool. As I stoop down to take a drink, I realize it's not my reflection is the pool.

It's them. Team RWBY.

_"What made you EVER think you were good enough? Good enough to lead an heiress? Good enough to even ASSOCIATE with one? Impudent dolt."_

_"You were the sister I never WANTED. Coming in my house, taking MY attention and love. All cause you were WEAK. Too weak to stand up for your family. You watched them BURN. And you did NOTHING."_

_"What do you know about life? Nothing. NOTHING. You lived your life in a house, you lived your life having food on the table. You didn't have to KILL for a bite to eat. You weren't forced to KILL just to be safe. You don't know anything about life, little girl."_

I stood back up. It had to be some sort of illusion or deception, I'm sure of it. They wouldn't be like that, would they?

Would they?

I don't know who they are. I know that inside of us, we all have a heart of darkness. To want, to take, to destroy… That is human nature.

I've seen it happen before.

I trusted him. And I loved him, too. But even though he assured me he loved me back, even though he supported me and taught me everything I know, he betrayed me. In the end all he ever did was destroy. First he took my home. He didn't tell us what we had to run from, only that it was dangerous. I didn't question him. He was, after all, the man who taught me everything about weapon crafting. I assumed that some mysterious force was after his skills, or that a deal had gone terribly wrong. I don't know why I assumed those things. Maybe I just wanted to trust him.

We left everything behind. We left with methodical, military precision, only bringing the essentials. Then, when we were isolated, he turned on us.

It started with my sister. She took a bullet straight to the head. It might be some sick joke or a stroke of luck, but she survived. The only damage she took, amazingly enough, was her memories and later on a lack of impulse control. She took a different name, after the ordeal. It was the first name she heard when they asked her about her name. I guess Yang Xiao Long is lucky to have someone as brilliant as my Yang to share his name. But she also lost everything else, even her memories. She calls me sister because I call her sister. And the family heirlooms? She doesn't even know what they are. She keeps them because they're pretty, she says. The albums, she thinks, were the albums left by the former landlord when he passed away.

Then my mother. I didn't even get to hear her last words. The last I saw of her was a bloody heap on the cold, hard ground. The white cloak she wore always mean safety and security to me; I used to sleep in it when she was gone. But now it just covered her lifeless body, the white already disappearing under the sinister creep of crimson.

But there wasn't any time to take her hand, listen to her dying gasps. He was turning towards me. And there was no mistake. He was there to clean this up. And there was nothing I could do about it. Nothing I could do. I closed my eyes, and tried to think happy thoughts. Happy thoughts… Please…

"Close your eyes.  
Don't you cry.  
Love's around you;  
In time, you'll fly."

The bullet's still there. It never made it out of my chest; to this day it lies against my heart. A constant reminder that there is no such thing as trust. He assured me that he was just following orders. Orders from who? From where? Why? What was more important to him than us? Than three lives? I never found out. Probably never will. I think he's dead. Being the worst assassin ever tends to put your life on the line, especially when two out of the three victims somehow lived. I'm pretty sure it was ineptitude and not mercy that kept us alive.

Now, there's only three that I trust. My teammates. But… I trusted long ago. And all I got for it was a world of hurt.

Monsters live everywhere. I can kill all the monsters of the night that I wish, but there's always those that live inside us. Those are the dangerous ones. Those are the ones that I can't kill because I CAN'T TELL IF THEY'RE THERE. So I can't trust anyone anymore. Just those three. But then again… I don't know them. Their pasts are shrouded in mystery, save for Yang. But even she is an enigma to me now, someone who looks familiar but isn't. Not at all.

I keep walking. The wind kept blowing deeper into the forest. The moon no longer was able to pierce the veil of trees; they had steadily grown thicker the longer I walked. I forced myself to keep walking and to keep calm. The darkness was absolute; it seemed infinite and terrifying. It was like looking into the maw of the void. The wind was soothing, because even though it whispered those silky sweet lies, at least it was better than the absolute silence that used to be.

But I was listening to the wind a little too closely to hear the small rustle of leaves as it jumped.

I spun, too late, to try and meet the danger head-on. All I got for my trouble was my face ground in the dirt, trying to twist around and fight. I couldn't do anything. Couldn't lash out, couldn't kick at the thing holding me down. It was tearing at me with razor-sharp teeth. Couldn't think, couldn't breathe because it HURT and it didn't stop, and I was trying to wriggle out from underneath it…

The last thing I expected was the floor to start pooling, letting me sink through it.

It was pitch black. Pure darkness, but this one was different. Serene, and warm. A small meow near my feet drew my attention towards the floor.

A pure black kitty. Cute! I picked him (her?) up and looked him in the eye, then hugged it. When I held it back out in front of me, I watched it a little bit.

Golden eyes. Familiar.

Then it opened its mouth and started talking. Well, it was more like… telling a story.

"Once upon a time…" she (Blake?) purred.

"There was a little girl with a red hood, trying to understand why a wolf had eaten her grandmother. She walked down the lane, and vowed to be strong and big enough to kill the wolves the next time she met them. After years and years of training, she was finally able to kill her very first wolf. The next soon followed, until her strength grew to insurmountable heights."

"But the wolves were smart. They started to realize that if they didn't hide, they'd be killed. So they copied the first wolf. They started wearing all sorts of clothing. Sheep's' clothing, people's clothing… it didn't matter to them. Soon the girl couldn't even tell what was a wolf and what wasn't anymore. So she stopped trying. She ran and hid, trying to stay with people that weren't wolves but always were."

"One day, she was running along a path and bumped her head really hard. She was knocked unconscious when three young ladies found her. One thought she didn't have time to help. The other had somewhere to be. And the last wanted to stay hidden from the wolves."

"But they helped her anyways. When the girl woke up, however, all she saw were three wolves taking care of her. As she started questioning the wolves, they all said the same thing. They all said that they weren't wolves all the time. Just sometimes. But they were still people inside. People with hearts and brains. And finally, the girl realized that everyone's a wolf. But everyone's also a person too."

"I know it's a lame ending, Ruby, but I can't keep making stories up for you like this. Weiss is still worried sick. Yang won't stop going up to the doctors and demanding they fix you this instant. And me? I'm worried about you. I can't keep making up stories for you, Ruby. Eventually, you gotta get up so you can start living your own."

"But whatever happens, Ruby, I'm just glad that I was a character in your story."

They were still looking after me. Why didn't I consider that? Even after all of this, they were still there for me. Watching, protecting me. And I had doubted them. I had thought they were going to leave me to waste away alone. But Blake just read me a story. And from what she said, nobody had given up on me yet.

I wasn't going to give up on them, then.

I put the cat down.

"Kitty, can you take me back? I'm ready, this time."

One flick of its tail was all it took. The wind was back, whispering in my ear. But I would not let the wind distract me this time. I needed to hear the footsteps, the quiet rustle that meant danger was incoming.

There! There it was. But as I swung Crescent Rose, I felt the damage done. Even with the recoil, it wasn't enough to do fatal damage to the monster. It was wounded now; that only made it more dangerous.

_"You cannot run from your past…"_

The damn wind was at it again.

_"Don't you see? They're at it again. This time… wouldn't Gambol Shroud look lovely sticking out your chest? Henceforward… I'm gonna enjoy that…"_

The rustle. I heard it, but where did it come from? I couldn't hear where it came from because of the stupid wind. Ugh…

Trust your instincts, my father once told me. They will always guide you true, he said. I had an uneasy feeling in my gut when he told me that. I guess him shooting all three of us kind of justified, ironically, his advice.

I picked a direction. From my left shoulder to my right foot, because that's where the wind was blowing. And I slashed.

And I hit.

And it died.

I knew because things don't like to live with a scythe blade in their eye. Fewer enjoy it.

This monstrous black wolf didn't enjoy it.

Somewhere, in the distance, I heard a guttural roar.

Then the wind stopped murmuring dark, insidious thoughts. It started to sing. It sung of the trees in the hidden forests it had traveled through, of the oceans stretching out to infinity. It spoke of a brave new world.

I would have to go see it. This brave new world. It sounded beautiful.

* * *

Blake closed the book. Initially, she felt guilty about bringing Ninjas of Love to the hospital, but when she started running out of things left to read, she had no choice. She was positive that Ruby wouldn't enjoy the dictionary, after all. And who knows, maybe she likes Ninjas of Love. Blake wouldn't know.

Blake wanted to see those eyes open at least once more. It was in those eyes she found the courage and strength to begin life anew. At first, she was hesitant about Beacon. It seemed unorthodox, and its students were just too nosy to not notice what was under the bow eventually. But she stayed, even though her heritage had been revealed, because there were people that wanted her there. Ruby was among those she called friends, those she honored with that title. And it was reciprocal to Blake. There can be no one-sided friendship, she reasoned.

Which is why she had brought a book with her every day to the hospital to read to her comatose leader.

It started with the fairytale that she thought best fit her leader. Little Red Riding Hood. She thought the cloak was inferior, however, to the refined version Ruby wore.

Then it began branching out. Library books about adventure, about dragons, about heroic space marines. Anything and everything she thought Ruby would've liked. Eventually, the library ran out. So she brought in cookbooks. Then she brought in weapons magazines. Today, she had felt adventurous, so she made her own little version of Little Red Riding Hood. But that didn't last long at all, and she wasn't happy with the rather abrupt and nonsensical ending. Ultimately, it came to this. Ninjas of Love. She still blushed when she thought about it; half because of the content, half because she brought it to read to Ruby.

The nurse popped her head in and mentioned something about visiting hours being over. Blake kindly told her she was packing up, then snuck one last kiss on Ruby's forehead. Just for luck.

"Ruby, I'll let you pet my ears when you're better. They're soft, like velvet. I thought you'd like that. You haven't felt anything soft for months."

The door slid closed with a quiet click.

Blake left the lights on, to better scare away the darkness.

* * *

As always, feedback is greatly appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

I'm so sorry it took this long, but what graduation and finals and AP tests all occurring in a very short time span, it made it difficult to write. T.T I'm working on this, I promise, so please be patient if it takes a while...

* * *

I lay on my back with my eyes closed, enjoying the feeling of the wind softly murmuring through the trees. It was peaceful here.

When I opened my eyes, the wind was gone. I pulled myself up on a branch. The forest was still here. The sun shone through the leaves; didn't they used to be a little thicker? It was calm, almost serene. I didn't want to leave, but there was nothing else for me here. Sighing, I started walking. The springy undergrowth started to thin out as I walked, yielding to scratchy grass. The trees receded into nothingness. The sun's rays beat down, turning the world into a sweltering oven. The sparse grass eventually thinned out, become drier and drier. Eventually, it yielded to bone-dry sand.

The desert stretched out before me. The shifting sands reminded me of flames; always the same, always changing. But what intrigued me more was what I didn't see. Blake once read me a book. I think it was a while ago, when I we were out at a bookstore. I told her I never heard of it, and she bought it and read it to me later. Anyways, I think it was called The Little Prince. There's a scene in the book where the Little Prince says that the desert is beautiful because of the things that you can't see, the things that are hidden. I agreed. The sands could hide a temple, or a treasure chest, or even a vein of precious diamonds. Maybe they hid a beautiful cave or the bones of a long-dead dinosaur. The desert could hide anything you wanted it to hide, as long as you thought about it hard enough.

A light breeze started to blow, shifting the sands around. Landmarks meant nothing as they were created and destroyed in an instant. My feet left impressions in the dunes, but these were quickly eradicated. Like a ghost, all my traces were here one moment and gone the next.

The wind started to blow progressively harder and harder, taking the sand with it. I didn't know much about the desert, but I had heard about sandstorms in class and from other hunters. I knew enough about them to know that I needed to find somewhere, anywhere, to take shelter. But something was off. All the wind came from one direction. In a desert, shouldn't the wind come from all around? There was nothing on the desert to halt the movement of the winds. So why didn't the wind shift directions?

I started to head into the wind. This was odd, that was for sure. Maybe there was something important where the wind originated from. I didn't know, but there was only one way to find out. I looked backwards, just in case. That was a mistake. Direction meant nothing here. The only sight I was greeted with was the endless desert. I could get lost in here for centuries and never find the way out. But for now, I concentrated on finding the wind.

As I started walking in the direction of the wind, it started to abate. It never swayed, though. It always came from the direction of the setting sun. As I walked, I tried to pull my hood over my eyes. I needed my eyes, and burning them out staring at the sun would've been unfortunate. The heat of the desert was disappearing, fast. As the sun set, so did the temperature. It went from unbearably hot to reasonably cool. And then it went from cool to downright cold. The desert, it seemed, had two faces. The raging heat matched by the chilly cold.

And then the wind stopped, finally.

The sun was gone now. The moon rose high in the sky, giving off enough stolen light for me to see. I looked around and saw nothing, just more sand. The dunes looked exactly the same as the ones I had seen before. I don't know if it was exactly the same, but it wasn't like I could tell in the desert. I turned and scanned the horizon. Nothing.

One place left to check. I looked straight down. And there was a small red line sticking out of the sand. I knelt down and felt it. I could've been wrong, but it felt like pottery. But all this sand was in the way. I couldn't see what it actually was, so I started digging. As I kept digging, the line expanded into a triangular prism. Then more red lines appeared. I kept digging. And I knew what it was, after about an hour of digging.

It was a roof. There was an entire house buried under the sand.

Yang's bed was in the other corner. Both were simple beds; just mattresses and frames. I sat down on my old bed. There was a lump near the pillow; I stuck my hand under the covers and found my old wolf plushie. I pulled it out and hugged it. It was pitch black, with silver eyes. Mom always said that it looked a little like me. As a kid, I didn't even give it a name. That'd be just as weird as naming your shadow, because the I carried it everywhere. I loved that thing.

We had to leave it behind when he told us to run. We all trusted him. So we ran. Mom only brought her pistols. Those were the only things we brought from the house.

When Mom died, I had to sell them. It was the only way I could've gotten back home.

Right after all the evil, I paid for a ride back home with the money I got from selling them. When I got there, I had to break a window to get in. Mom's keys were still on the kitchen counter. I took the old picture albums and some clothes. Everything else, I sold. I had to. Even the wolf. The picture albums weren't worth anything, and I had to buy clothes anyways. The rest went to Yang's medical bills and paying for food. Qrow helped when he could, but he was gone for too long too often.

We were lucky that he had taught us, at least, how to fight. Signal Academy had rooms for us. In exchange for letting us attend for free, we were obligated, after graduation from either Signal or Beacon, to serve for the next decade and a half. But that's okay. It's what I was going to do anyways. But I still hated the world that was twisted and sick enough to make this happen. I never had a choice in my future. Even though this was the choice I was going to take, I wanted the others. I wanted the freedom. All of that was stolen from me. At night, I used to look up at the stars and hate them. Who were they to determine that I had no right to choose my destiny? Who were they to tell me that I had to lose everything, while others went on like normal?

Nobody has the right to determine fate. It's ours. It should be, at least.

Now, I walked the place denied to me in my youth. This was the house I never really truly had a chance to call home. All of these things I had long forgotten came back to me with the force of a sledgehammer. The mismatched chairs at the square dining table. The worn-out leather divan where we used to curl up in front of the fireplace. The cubby that was just large enough to hide me and my little wolfie.

I wanted my family back the most, though. They weren't here. The only thing left here were dead memories. They're nice, but that's all they are. There was nothing left here for me. I set the wolfie down on the leather divan, and walked out the door.

Our old neighborhood was exactly the same as it used to be. The same five houses on a row, the same six on the other side. And, just like that day, the same inconspicuous tan car idling outside. That was HIS car. I wanted to tear his throat out, so I stalked over to the driver's side door and opened it.

That definitely wasn't him. It was an aging taxi driver, cigarette already balanced on his lips.

"You getting in or what?"

I got in the back. I had seen nobody else in this godforsaken desert, and I needed to know why he was here.

"The kids? Did you bring the kids?"

I looked at him questioningly. Then I looked in the seat adjacent to mine. The wolfie and a lion plushie were there. But there was a flash of white near my lap that wasn't supposed to be there. I looked down at my cloak.

It was white. So very white. A white I had seen only in one other place. The color this cloak used to be, in fact.

This was her cloak. It used to be pure, dazzling white. Until it became stained with Summer Rose's blood. Since then, it had always been red like roses.

"Are the kids back there?"

I didn't know how to answer. But I needed to see where this will go.

"Yes, they're here."

"Phew. Must be hard, being a mother."

Me, a mother? I looked back down at my cloak. This was once Summer's cloak. Was it possible that he was confusing me for my mother?

"Yes. It's hard."

I wouldn't know how hard it was. I never knew how my mother felt as she looked down the barrel of the gun. I wouldn't know how she felt as she knew that he would come and finish me off. I don't know how she felt when she saw Yang bleeding out in a heap.

Was her death a blessing? Or was it just a cruel end to a crueler play?

"Ma'am. We're here."

The door opened out into a barren, desolate field. I turned around and saw an old Victorian mansion looming over me. The grass was dead and the trees were long torn down. The paint was peeling off. The entire house had a feel of decay around it.

I took both plushies out of the car and it sped away.

"I don't like the look of this house."

I started and turned around. Where did the voice come from? I felt like it was close. So very close.

"Mom, why? Why did we have to leave?"

It was coming from below me? I looked down at both plushies. And the lion… it was talking.

"Is it at least safe?"

That was Yang's voice, from so long ago. I remember it. It was the same voice she used to tell me that I didn't put enough milk in my cereal.

The situation was too… familiar. Except now the roles were switched around. But that gave me hope. I can change this. I can change the outcome of the past. I could make everything better.

"Yes, my little lion. It's safe here. I'm going to make it safe."

I checked the small of my back for Crescent Rose. It was still there. And now that I had a real weapon, I could do some real damage. Anyways, the best defense, for me, was always an excellent offense.

I would kill him when he came. That would be the end to everything. If he died, then none of this would have happened. If I killed him on the spot, then he wouldn't be able to touch Yang. I would save her.

I went in the house and found a pile of blankets on the floor.

"Everything's going to be all right. Don't you worry. Nothing bad is going to happen."

Tucking them in, I gave them a little kiss before heading back outside to wait.

Strike fast and strike hard. That was the plan. I'd wait for him to get out of the car, and then I would rush him. I can move fast enough to catch him off guard. The scythe was more than strong enough to do fatal damage with one blow. And within seconds, I would set us free from pain.

Just a little bit more waiting. I remember now. It was at sunset. The bullet still lodged near my heart would soon be no more. Yang's memory would be fine. There would be no pain. And we would have a mother again. Summer would live. All it took was one little swing.

The sun is taking too long to set. I need to get this done. But there's nothing I can do but wait. Hopefully the plushies fell asleep. Hopefully they're still not waiting. I want to end this. I've spent years thinking about how life would be if I could've changed everything. Everything's going to change. Everything.

It still refuses to set. Please, if there is a god, I need this to end. The death of pain. I've wanted it for so long.

So long.

Just as the last rays dip below the horizon, the car pulls up. Black as night. I'm jittery. Can't control myself. I need this to end. The door opens. He gets out. I can see his hands. A gun? It's him. It's going to happen all over again. I can stop it.

I'm right there. He sees me.

THIS IS IT. His blood rises high into the air, staining the ground red. Red like roses.

NOW I'M FREE.

FREE.

Free.

It burns. So bad. The bullet that was lodged in the middle of my chest... It burns.

I need some sleep.

* * *

Yang bolted upright. There had been a figure in a white cloak, a lot like Ruby's, in her dream. And she showed her an entirely different life. It started with the picture books Yang found in Ruby's desks. There were so many pictures of a woman in a white cloak with two little girls. Yang always thought the black-haired one looked a lot like a little Ruby, but she always thought it was a coincidence. But the more she looked, the more it DID look like Ruby.

The box came yesterday. In it was a bunch of random things. Two stuffed animals. A set of pistols. More albums. And a note.

"Due to the recent arrest of Major Tucker, the case has been considered closed. The evidence, of which personal effects were a large part of, has been returned to the parties involved. Enclosed are the items which were recovered from various persons of interest, and ought to be returned to Ruby Rose.

-Officer Louis"

Yang had to look up the case. Apparently, this Tucker fellow had assassinated several notable hunters and huntresses. Following that, he proceeded to clean up the evidence by systematically eradicating every indication that they had ever lived. Entire families just disappeared off of the grid, and houses turned into sooty black rectangles. For Yang, the real kicker was that he worked on behalf of the military; the less hunters of the night there were, the more the military would get called in. And the more power and influence they would have. Until someone squealed, it looked like.

But she didn't find out what it had to do with Ruby until she clicked on the list of victims.

There, she found Ruby. And her mom. There, Yang gave a little gasp. That was her, from the dreams. But she looked more familiar than that. Like she knew her from life, too.

And under that, was a photo of a little girl. Next to it was a photo where they estimated her looks almost a decade later.

"Stella Rose- presumed missing, possibly dead. Witness reports indicate a shot to the head; however, as of yet no body has been found. If you have information regarding Stella Rose, please call…"

But they got the hair all wrong. It wasn't straight like that. It was a little bit curly, Yang thought. And she wasn't missing.

She was sitting right there, looking at her dead mother and her comatose sister.

Yang tried to remember a time when they called her Stella. That must've been years ago. And she started to piece together the things she saw in her dreams. She started putting the fragments back, piece by piece, realizing that this was her. Then she jumped out of her chair.

Ruby needed her sister. She needed Yang Xiao Long. And she needed Stella Rose. And both were coming to see her.


	4. An apology

I'm so sorry, but I think the next chapter's going to be a while. As of now, I'm in a completely different country, and the only writing implement is my phone. Additionally, I have a lot to do here. I'm trying to take origami lessons to try and get my master's license, and I have family to visit and .etc. I'll do my best to try and finish the story, but I was having trouble with the direction I wanted to go even before I went to Korea.

Again, I'm sorry. At lease there's volume 2 to look forward to?

mearfster


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